"Since you serve Emperor Jianwu now, you should visit me less. I'd rather not have you lead anyone here and disturb my peace..."
Su Chen sent him away.
Outside the Library Pavilion.
Without a word, Xu Xiaohan prostrated himself nine times before taking his leave.
From then on, Su Chen remained the same good-for-nothing in the Library Pavilion.
The eunuchs assigned to bring him his three daily meals came and went in waves. Whether they were Little Black-robed Eunuchs or Cyan Robe Eunuchs, they all considered the task a thankless chore. 'What future was there in serving a good-for-nothing?'
The Library Pavilion was cold and remote. This sworn brother of Zhang Gui... Tch. Zhang Gui was dead, so what value did he have anymore? Even Vice Chief Steward Xu, who was at the height of his power, never visited again. He had clearly forsaken his old bond with the good-for-nothing from the Library Pavilion.
What future could there be in serving this Sixth Red Robe, a man with no cultivation whatsoever? One after another, they would pull some strings and get themselves reassigned within a few days.
Regarding this, Su Chen paid it no mind.
He spent his days eating the meals brought to him, reading in his leisure time, and tending to his seeds and flowers. It was a quiet life.
「October, the third year of the Jianwu era.」
Autumn winds began to blow.
After two long years, the rebellion in Nanyang Commandery was finally quelled. The entire Xuanyang Sect was annihilated. Of the sect's two First-Grade Experts, one was killed while the other was gravely wounded and forced to flee. With this victory, the Imperial Court's authority was firmly established.
No one dared to disrespect Emperor Jianwu, the last of the three emperors who had sat on the throne in a single year.
The army returned to the capital in triumph!
With the destruction of a major sect, Emperor Jianwu's prestige reached its peak. No one dared to underestimate him in the slightest.
Vice Chief Steward Xu's methods were ruthless. To solidify Emperor Jianwu's trust, he stopped at nothing, killing many of Zhang Gui's adopted sons and seizing their lucrative businesses. The entire war effort was funded by these seized enterprises.
He even brought half of the Eastern Depot under his control.
From that day forward, Vice Chief Steward Xu became Emperor Jianwu's trusted confidant, a true member of his inner circle.
"The wind is rising."
Su Chen stretched and watched the sky slowly darken. His thoughts drifted, and he found himself thinking of Zhang Gui again.
There had been no word from the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot for two years.
'Could he really be dead?'
HUMMM!
The sixty-ninth strand of True Qi slowly coalesced within Su Chen's body.
Apparently, that stalk of grass had been used.
'Perhaps it was Zhang Gui, perhaps not...'
"Your Majesty, why trouble yourself and the Commandery Princess by coming to such a remote place for a book? You need only say the word, and a eunuch would have fetched it and delivered it right to her."
The sycophantic voice of a eunuch carried from a great distance.
The Phoenix Carriage!
A grand procession of Royal Guards and a retinue of eunuchs escorted the Phoenix Carriage. A graceful and noble young woman descended from it. She wore a Phoenix Crown and possessed the extraordinary, maternal grace befitting an empress.
The Empress of Great Liang, Dugu Yue.
Emperor Jianwu's wife.
The woman who had borne him a Prince and a Princess.
The Second-Grade General Feng, who led the annihilation of the Xuanyang Sect and quelled the rebellion in Nanyang Commandery, was none other than Empress Dugu's elder brother. He had rendered a monumental service and was a staunch supporter of Emperor Jianwu—a pillar of the current Great Liang Court.
A First-Grade expert's status was comparable to the Emperor's.
Therefore, a Second-Grade expert was one of the most powerful figures in the court, the country, and even the Imperial City.
"Insolence!"
"Where did this Black-robed Eunuch spring from? Her Majesty the Empress and Princess Yunyang are here! Why haven't you crawled over to pay your respects? Who's your supervising eunuch? I'll see to it he's flayed alive...!"
The Blue-robed Steward attending Empress Dugu snarled viciously at Su Chen.
'Coming to the Library Pavilion to read? How absurd.'
Su Chen was taken aback for a moment.
In all his years at the Library Pavilion, this was the first time he'd ever seen anyone come looking for a book. The collection here consisted of ordinary texts; the true cultivation manuals were all stored in the Martial Pavilion. This was the first time any nobles had ever paid a visit.
"Who are you? I don't recognize you."
Su Chen glanced at the unfamiliar Blue-robed Steward.
The blue robes signified he was a Steward.
However, in the year of the Celestial Chaos, the throne had changed hands three times. On top of that, two separate groups of First-Grade Experts had broken into the Imperial Palace. Then Xu Xiaohan had seized power, purging his rivals and promoting his confidants. The ranks of the Blue-robed Stewards in the Imperial Palace had been turned over countless times.
Clearly, this was a newly promoted Blue-robed Steward.
"You insolent—"
"I am a Steward! You're just a Black-robed..."
The Blue-robed Steward started to rail at him again.
However, Empress Dugu stopped him. Her beautiful eyes swept over Su Chen as she spoke slowly.
"This is the Sixth Red Robe of the Library Pavilion!"
"According to the Law, he is exempt from bowing even before the Emperor."
"He certainly does not need to bow to us."
'A red robe? That means he's a Chief Steward.'
The Blue-robed Steward was instantly stunned. His legs went weak with fright, and he nearly fell to his knees to kowtow to Su Chen.
But then he quickly remembered.
'The Sixth Red Robe? Could it be that good-for-nothing from the Library Pavilion? The one who only got his position as the Sixth Red Robe because Zhang Gui promoted him for coming up with the idea for the Martial Arts List? The very same coward who hasn't dared to step foot outside the Library Pavilion since Zhang Gui died?'
'Heh.'
The Blue-robed Steward's confidence returned instantly.
'This Sixth Red Robe is hardly a real Chief Steward!'
"Your Majesty knows of me?"
Su Chen cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.
"The Martial Arts List brought stability to the Jianghu. You played a part in that, so of course I know of you."
"Without the Jianghu to hold it back, Great Liang can now focus more of its energy on dealing with Demon Fiends, training its soldiers, and fostering more Cultivators."
Empress Dugu didn't speak with Su Chen for long.
After all, this was a world of Cultivators. Even with the title of Sixth Red Robe Chief Steward, he was only worthy of a passing glance from the Empress, nothing more.
Empress Dugu soon departed.
She left Princess Yunyang behind to browse the collection. The princess mostly looked at medical texts, attended by two Royal Guards of the Fourth Grade, a clear sign of the Empress's affection for her.
In previous years, even the Prince's escorts were only at the Fourth Grade.
"Hey."
"Eunuch!"
A sharp, girlish cry startled Su Chen from where he was lazily sunbathing in his lounge chair.
'Who? Who's calling me?'
Su Chen looked all around but saw no one.
When he looked down, he found Princess Yunyang glaring up at him.
'She's too short. A short, fifteen-year-old girl. No wonder I didn't see her.'
"You called me, Your Highness?"
Looking as lazy as ever, Su Chen reached out and ruffled the little princess's hair, which was tied in pigtails.
"Insolence!"
"How dare you disrespect Her Highness?"
The two Fourth-Grade guards, hands on the hilts of their long sabers, stepped forward in anger.
'He's just a lazy good-for-nothing. He really doesn't know his own place. Does he actually think he's some revered Second-Grade expert, a truly noble and powerful Chief Steward of the Imperial Palace? The man is completely clueless.'
"Hm?"
Su Chen lifted his gaze and shot them a look.
Instantly, a chill shot through their minds. For some unknown reason, their limbs turned cold, and they dared not take another step forward.
"Can you give me this flower?"
A crafty glint flickered in Princess Yunyang's eyes as she pointed to a purple flower blooming in the medicinal herb garden.
'This eunuch really doesn't know what he has. That's a Fifth-Grade Star Sea Flower! It's incredibly valuable and can be used in alchemy, yet he's growing it here like some common ornamental plant.'
"Of course."
Su Chen just wanted to send this princess on her way and restore the tranquility of his Library Pavilion.
'It was just one Fifth-Grade flower. It was the least valuable plant in his garden, so giving it away was no great loss.'
After sending them on their way,
Su Chen stretched and, seeing that no one was around, prepared to practice a set of his Thundering Body Refining Fist. He wanted to see if he could break through his current bottleneck, produce the seventy-first thunderous crack, and reach the Late Stage of the Bone and Muscle Realm.
The founding ancestor of Great Liang, the greatest Martial Arts Prodigy of the Bone and Muscle Realm, held the record for producing seventy-one thunderclaps.
After three years, Su Chen was finally about to match it.
This was only possible because he had completely exhausted the medicinal properties of two Thousand-Year Treasure Medicines.
'This Eighteen Golden Body Technique really burns through medicine. Two whole Thousand-Year Treasure Medicines! With any other Path of the Body cultivation technique, that would have been enough to reach Peak Third Grade, maybe even the Second Grade Realm. No wonder no one besides its creator, Old Demon Gujue, has ever cultivated any realm of the Eighteen Golden Body Technique to its absolute limit...'
He went through a full set of the Thundering Body Refining Fist.
By the time he finished, the sky had grown dark.
BOOM!
A thunderclap echoed.
The seventy-first thunderclap finally sounded.
At that moment, eighty-eight percent of Su Chen's bones and muscles took on a gilded sheen. They had become incredibly strong, and a terrifying Thunderbolt Force brewed within his surging, fiery blood.
Three years!
He had finally reached the Late Fourth Grade!
As for his Path of Qi, he remained at Inner Qi Perfection within the Fifth Realm. He had no idea when the Seed of Longevity inside him would advance to the next stage.
"Since you're here, why not come in?"
The gilded sheen on Su Chen's body slowly receded. In an instant, he transformed from a terrifying expert back into a harmless-looking, ordinary man.
The scent of blood drew near.
Xu Xiaohan appeared at the entrance to the Library Pavilion. He wore a pristine red robe, a white jade Token hanging from his waist. His entire demeanor had undergone a complete transformation, but his expression was as respectful as ever as he held a severed head in his hand.
"Master Su, I heard this man insulted you, so I took the liberty of bringing you his head. Perhaps it can serve as fertilizer for your garden..."
The head belonged to none other than the Blue-robed Steward who had berated Su Chen earlier that day.
A look of confusion and terror was still frozen on its face.
Clearly, even at the moment of his death, he couldn't understand why the powerful Vice Chief Steward Xu would have come to kill him.
"You didn't come here just for this, did you?"
Su Chen looked at the Vice Chief Steward before him. It was difficult to associate this man with the timid, cautious Xu Xiaohan of three years ago.
Power changes a person so drastically.
"Zhang Gui..."
"He... has reappeared."